A good roomy hunting saddle, turned out as only an experienced English maker can, or, at any rate, so far as our experience has gone, ever does, we look on as the very perfection of that on which a horseman should sit; and we strongly advise every one leaving England for any country in which he has to ride, to provide himself with at least one. The various saddles used abroad will be described farther on. It will be requisite to have a number of “Ds” fastened on in the most convenient situations for attaching by straps the various matters which it is at times requisite to carry. Two soft leather holsters should be fitted to the front, and a wallet (see engraving), made to rest behind the off saddle flap and thigh of the rider, suspended by straps from Ds sewn firmly on for that purpose. At the rear of the saddle should also be attached a double row of Ds for the purpose of securing a sort of leather cover or envelope (see engraving), within which, when on the march, the head and heel ropes, with their pins, are secured. The mode of using these, as well as “knee halters,” &c., will be described when treating on that subject. Two “numdahs,” or saddle cloths, should accompany the saddle. The best we have seen of late are composed of a thick species of felt; but, during the most rapid and fatiguing forced marches through Central India, at the time of the mutiny, we used two of quilted cotton of native manufacture, which were put on alternately, one getting dry whilst the other was becoming saturated with perspiration from the horse, and so, by a constant change of these, avoiding one of the worst misfortunes that can befall the horse of the traveller through a wild country, viz., “a sore back.” The skin of the klip springer, prepared with the hair on, forms an admirable numdah. Saddles are greatly protected during rough travel, and their durability much increased, by having cases made for them of soft “russet” leather, or that which is infinitely better, when it can be obtained, “saumber skin.” We have had covers for all our saddles made of it, to protect the pig skin from the tremendous thorns of tropical forests, as well as the numerous other sources of injury to which saddles are liable. The stirrup-iron should be of large size, so as to admit of the free passage in and out of a thick boot with some mud or clay about it. Two or three pairs of substantial hunting spurs, with wide straps, will be found the most reliable kind of “persuader.” Bridle. The most useful bridle we ever had was of the “shifting bead collar pattern,” so constructed that, by unbuckling a pair of side straps, both bits, with the reins attached, came off, leaving a strong head collar, with a chin strap, on which was an iron ring for a coil of rope to be suspended from, as shown in the illustration on [page 37]. Numerous opinions exist touching “bits,” and much diversity of opinion must remain after all the arguments which have from time to time been expended on the subject; as the temperaments of horses and men vary, and as the peculiar purposes to which the horse, in the number of phases or conditions in which he is called on to minister to the wants and pleasures of his master, are changed, so will some modification of the means used for his control and direction be required. Pall-mall is one place and the forest another; and it by no means follows, because the equipment one has used with English hunters in an English hunting-field has been found all that could be desired, that native bred or colonial horses, ridden in pursuit of game, require no other. We do not think it would be profitable to the reader to enter here on a description of the bits used by various nations and tribes. We advise as nearly as possible adhering in this, as well as in many other customs, to the mode adopted by the particular race or nation amongst whom the traveller may chance to sojourn. Still, we recommend him to take out from England (besides the bit fitted on the head collar bridle, which may be a plain strong snaffle) two “segundras” of medium power. Have no more buckles in either heads or reins than are absolutely needed. Nothing tends to weaken a bridle so much, during the exposure consequent on an outdoor life, as the rusting out of buckles and the breaking or pulling through of their tongues—both sources of endless trouble and annoyance.
Pack saddles.
For simple and efficient equipment both for pack and saddle horses we do not know a better model than that adopted by Augustus C. Gregory, Commander of the North Australian Expedition, and now Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society, with whom we had the honour of serving from 1855 to 1857. The pack saddles, elaborately constructed in England, which we took out to him were at once condemned for two reasons; first, that they were unnecessarily heavy, and next that the points of suspension for the load were so high that the least swaying of the saddle would severely wring the horse’s back. The large flaps were saved as a reserve of useful leather for emergencies, and the thick felt saddle cloths were gladly appropriated to their proper use; but the complicated arrangement of wood and iron, combining the undesirable qualities of weakness, weight, and inconvenience, was left in store to await the sale of surplus equipment on our return.
NORTH AUSTRALIAN EXPEDITION PACKHORSE EQUIPMENT.
The pack saddle, made under the direction of Mr. Gregory, consisted simply of two boards of Australian cedar, about twenty inches long by seven broad, inclined at such an angle as to sit fairly on the horse’s ribs, and at such a distance from each other that the spine should remain uninjured between them. These were connected by two stout bows of iron, 1½in. broad by ⅜in. thick, arching well clear of the horse’s back, and having on each side hooks firmly riveted into them for the suspension of the bags in which our provisions, &c., were stowed. The crupper was buckled round the aftermost bow, and the straps for the attachment of the breasting, breeching, and girths were screwed on the outside of the cedar planks. We hope the illustration on the next page is sufficiently clear to indicate the position of these without further description; it will be seen that the girths cross each other as they pass under the belly.
A pair of pads, sufficiently large to prevent not only the saddle but also the packs chafing the horse, were attached to the boards by thongs passing through holes bored in either end, so that upon occasion we could easily remove them to re-arrange the stuffing, and tie them again in their places. One of the thick felted saddle cloths before mentioned was invaluable as an additional protection. The form of the bags will also be readily understood by a glance at the frontispiece. They were of stout canvas, as wide as one breadth of the material, and the ends were formed by a pear-shaped piece let in, and strongly roped round the seams; the loops at the upper part were bound with leather, and iron cringles or grummets were let in, by which to hang them on the hooks. No other fastening was used, so that if a horse fell in the rugged mountain paths, or in fording a rough and swollen torrent, it was an advantage to him to shake off his bags at once, while we were generally able to fish them up again before even such perishable stores as sugar could be reached by water, through the pack and double bags of canvas in which we kept them. Nothing whatever was allowed to be fastened to the bows above the suspension hooks; indeed there was a general order that the horse should carry nothing that was not contained in the side bags. The smaller bags for flour, sugar, and other stores, were also the length of one breadth of canvas. One end was formed by a circular piece of canvas about eight inches in diameter, and the other was left to be closed when they were filled. The inner bag was of plain canvas, and this was covered by another that had been well saturated with boiled linseed oil; these held about fifty pounds of flour, &c., and in each flour bag two ½lb. tins of gunpowder were kept perfectly secure from fire or water; we generally ate the flour as fast as we wanted the powder. Each pair of side bags was numbered, and carefully balanced one against the other, the stowage of each being from seventy to seventy-five pounds, so that the total load of the horse should not much exceed 160lb.
